Human Rights of Women
Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch says it’s not clear that political transitions in Arab nations will advance rights of women and girls.
Q: What is the unfinished revolution?
A: The unfinished revolution refers both to the last few decades of progress in some cases and setbacks for women’s rights in the world. But it also refers to the current situation for women and girls in the world. Particularly in the countries that went through the Arab Spring uprisings, where you’ve had political transitions that are underway . . . where it is not all clear that those political transitions will result in advances for rights of women and girls.
Q: What was the overall goal in compiling the book?
A: I think the ultimate goal was to give a three-dimensional picture of rights for women and girls in the world today. We wanted for people hear women in their own voices. We wanted them to hear testimony. We wanted them to know stories. We also wanted readers to have a sense of women as agents of change.
Q: Who would you say the book is for?
A: Well first of all we hope it’s going to be a tool for advocates. For people who work in the field. We want them to take the case studies and say, ‘Well look, here’s how they did it in Iraqi Kurdistan, maybe that would work with our local problem.’ So we’d like for it to be a tool for people who work in the human rights field to use. We’d really like for it to have a broader audience, though. I know that there are a number of men who’ve told me that they gave it to their daughters, but we’d like it to be given to sons as well. Because you won’t solve women’s rights abuse problems unless you involve men. I think if we’ve done a good job with the book, there’s a little bit of something for everyone.
A: What would you say is the significance of this moment in women’s history and world history?
Q: I think it’s an important, and in some cases an optimistic, moment. But it would be wrong to look past very recent examples of how political revolutions did not enhance or advance women’s rights but, in fact, set them back. (Iranian Nobel laureate and human rights lawyer and activist) Shirin Ebadi talks about the moment when she saw the code — the new law that was going to govern Iran. She looked at it and realized that it was going to set the country back by 1,000 years, especially women. She could see that this gives women exactly half the rights of men. And it’s true, in Iran a woman’s life is literally worth half the life of men.
Q: What are the conditions necessary to foster female rights in the world? When can it be said that this revolution is, in fact, finished?
A: I think, above all, the world needs a revolution in thinking. That’s for here in Canada, it’s true in Africa, it’s true in Asia. The world really needs a revolution in thinking . . . and a revolution in how we value women and girls, and elevating their value.
Q: Is the revolution ever going to be finished?
A: Yeah. We wouldn’t bother doing the book if we didn’t think it was achievable. It’s not achievable a century from now, this is achievable within our lifetimes. That’s why we focus so much on real life cases. Because it’s achievable now.